British Airways Gatwick First lounge to close at 3pm … and permanently from November?

In what amounts to another slap in the face for British Airways Executive Club Gold card holders, British Airways announced yesterday that the First Class lounge at Gatwick Airport will now be closing from 3pm daily.

The rationale for this is that this is the departure time for the last flight of the day which has a First Class cabin.

Gold card holders will need to use the Terraces lounge next door from 3pm.  BA has said that additional seating will be installed in the lounge, although that will be ‘at a later date’ and not in time for the introduction of 3pm closing on April 13th.

As a very marginal piece of compensation, sandwiches will be made available until 8pm in the Terraces lounges.  Apparently they are now removed at 6pm leaving no fresh food at all.  Bacons rolls will also be available until 9.30am.

In theory, you may expect me to be annoyed by this.  However, as I wrote last year when I was in the First Class lounge at Gatwick, it is a complete dump.  On that occasion I walked out and used my Priority Pass to visit the No 1 Traveller lounge downstairs, which is an oasis by contrast.  Some photos from No 1 Traveller at Gatwick North are in this article.

There is also a rumour going around on Flyertalk that the First lounge at Gatwick will be closed entirely in November 2015.  In November 2016, British Airways will move to the South Terminal and that will have only one lounge with no dedicated First / Gold facility at all.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)